zeus @ big chief k & c

The park says that it's the fastest wooden coaster in the midwest. What are they judging that title by top speed or top continous speed?

They are saying that based on Wisconsin Dells' standards. False advertising is common there, it's the tourist trap capitol of Wisconsin. Everything there is made out to sound like it's the tallest, fastest, longest, best, most fun thingamabobber in the world, where, in reality, almost everything there sucks or is over priced. Zeus, however, doesn't suck, but is overpriced. It's still not the tallest, fastest, or longest, though.

i found a flyer in a magazine that said that dragon moutain at marine land in canada was the longest steel coaster. bahhh. it was for 2002 as well. its the longest looping steel coaster but it for sure isnt the longest. steel dragon kills it. MF beats it. and prob about 5 others beat it.
there is a ton of false advertising in parks. the GP isnt gonna know that things arent the fastest steepest or tallest. its like selling a car to a woman. * oh yeah, this car has 200hp. its so fast. my buddy has one. woman:i'll take it.

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1.Fire Dragon 2.Ice Dragon 3.Raptor 4.Batman Knight Flight 5.Kraken

I'm guessing fastest average speed--and frankly, I wouldn't doubt it.

What would be faster? It sure wouldn't be VF's High Roller--even if they shut the brakes off. Nor would it be SFGAM's American Eagle, even though it's taller. Remember--once you're at a high elevation making a midcourse turn, your average speed goes way, way, down. Viper would come reasonably close, but credit the great CCI design for excellent sustained speed here.

Remember, Boulder Dash (another CCI) makes a similar claim due to its design.

-'Playa

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

I really don't think Wisconsin Dells sucks, it's really an awesome city yeah there are some high prices but it isn't as high as Miller Park or SFGAm.

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Tuesday's Gone With The Wind.
Elijah Rock.
Is it written in the stars?
La Vie Boheme!!!

As small and dirty Big Chief Karts and Coaster is, no one would pa the same price for it as they would at Six Flags Great America.

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Lake Compounce-So Fresh and So Clean Clean

And yet, people practically do. Go figure....must be the stupid Illinois tourists. (sarcasm ending now...)

As for the advertising, I don't believe they are including Ohio (that is, they are not considering Ohio to be midwest). That's not for me to say whether they should or not, but that's the way I see it. Also, Zeus gains quite a bit of speed throughout the course because of the terrain. I don't know the top speed for a fact but it is high.

-Nate

*** This post was edited by coasterdude318 on 7/30/2002. ***

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SFGAMDie HARD said:
I really don't think Wisconsin Dells sucks, it's really an awesome city yeah there are some high prices but it isn't as high as Miller Park or SFGAm.

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Tuesday's Gone With The Wind.
Elijah Rock.
Is it written in the stars?
La Vie Boheme!!!

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Are you kidding? That really depends on what you want to do! Trust me Wisconsin Dells is a tourist trap....and it is worse the SFGAm at getting one to spend money. But it is still fun if you plan ahead and make the most of your trip.

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Whizzer tribute page http://www.crosswinds.net/~zerogthrills/sfgam/whizzer.html
Zero G Thrills http://www.crosswinds.net/~zerogthrills/

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Vertigo said:

I tell you would beat it out, ever been on some giant woodies in Ohio? Son of Beast by the way, is easily faster, taller, and longer than Zues.

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First of all, define 'Midwest'...if you dare. Everyone seems to have a different idea. And I doubt folks up in Wisconsin are thinking about the southern tip of Ohio--even if they're willing to hop in a car and drive 600+ miles to compare the two.

Besides, there are coasters much closer that are much taller that lack the average speed of Zeus.

Reaching a higher speed for a half-second between hills #1 and #2, then shimmying through heavily banked helices sure isn't the same as barreling through a course with low bunny hops at top speed.

You obviously have never boarded Zeus and are in a poor position to compare it to anything else....'cause if you had, you certainly wouldn't have brought up SOB at all. You would have compared it to the Beast, which actually does feel faster.

-'Playa

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya on 7/31/2002. ***

While Zeus is fast it doesn't even come close to other rides in the "Midwest." Surely they have to include Indiana, Legend is clearly faster then Zeus, Raven probably is too. What about the Boss? Is Missouri the Midwest? How about American Eagle just 2 hours down the road? Even if you don't Include Ohio there are plenty of other faster woodies. Heck Shivering Timbers is clearly just as Midwest as Wisconsin and the average speed of ST is unbelievable.

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1989, 9 years old bawling my eyes out because I didn't want to ride Magnum. I did anyway and look at me now. Why did ya make me do it Dave? ;)

Here are the cold hard numbers straight from RCDB.COM

I took just the immediate area (WI, IL, IN, IA, MO)

Boss - SFStl 66.3

Eagle-SFGAm 66

Screamin Eagle SFStl 62

Zeus BC 60

Cyclops BC 58

Legend HW 58

Hoosier Hurricane IB 51

Viper SFGAm 50

Raven HW 48

Cornball Express IB 45

Pegasus at BC and the Legend at Arnolds Park were not listed with speeds.

Clearly it is one of the faster wooden coasters in the Midwest but it is not as fast as it's nearby neighbor, the American Eagle by a long shot. This is clearly false advertising.

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Bob Hansen

A proud CoasterBuzz Member

"So you think your'e really brave, gonna see the DEMONS cave.
You silly dude, your'e only food, for the DEMON"

What about ST Bob? I live in Michigan and we are Very Much midwest. Heck if you go across Lake Michigan MIA is only 150 miles from Big Chiefs.

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1989, 9 years old bawling my eyes out because I didn't want to ride Magnum. I did anyway and look at me now. Why did ya make me do it Dave? ;)

58 MPH for Timbers. Sorry :(

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Bob Hansen

A proud CoasterBuzz Member

"So you think your'e really brave, gonna see the DEMONS cave.
You silly dude, your'e only food, for the DEMON"

The 60mph could easily just be an estimate, or it could be the speed at the bottom of the first drop (I'm convinced the ride goes faster later on due to the terrain). Even if AE is 6mph faster, though, that's hardly off by a long shot.

-Nate

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CoastaPlaya said:

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Vertigo said:

I tell you would beat it out, ever been on some giant woodies in Ohio? Son of Beast by the way, is easily faster, taller, and longer than Zues.

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First of all, define 'Midwest'...if you dare. Everyone seems to have a different idea. And I doubt folks up in Wisconsin are thinking about the southern tip of Ohio--even if they're willing to hop in a car and drive 600+ miles to compare the two.

Besides, there are coasters much closer that are much taller that lack the average speed of Zeus.

Reaching a higher speed for a half-second between hills #1 and #2, then shimmying through heavily banked helices sure isn't the same as barreling through a course with low bunny hops at top speed.

You obviously have never boarded Zeus and are in a poor position to compare it to anything else....'cause if you had, you certainly wouldn't have brought up SOB at all. You would have compared it to the Beast, which actually does feel faster.

-'Playa

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya on 7/31/2002. ***

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If I haven't boarded Zues, then I wouldn't know that Big Chief Karts and Coaster is a filthy place. I have decision to use whatever example that I want to so long as it's a fact. You saying that Son of Beast doesn't feel fast is just your opinion, which I have no use for. You're arguement is not that persuasive anyways when you're counteraruguement over a fact is opinion. Now, I'm gonna' cyber pop the next person that interupts me from Cita's World.

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Lake Compounce-So Fresh and So Clean Clean

The fact is that there's a difference between average speed and top speed.

A coaster can have a much higher top speed but a lower average speed than another coaster.

Furthermore, a coaster can even have a high average speed but due to poor pacing or sequence of elements (VF's WT readily comes to mind) the impression of speed is altogether lost on the rider. 70 MPH on a motorcycle feels faster than 70 MPH in the back of a minivan. 55 MPH through the woods in ptch-black darkness feels faster than 55 MPH sixty feet off the ground. Starting to see the point?

And for the last time it's Z-E-U-S. If you can't spell it, at least copy it from someone who can.

-'Playa

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya on 7/31/2002. ***

FireDragonLord, you might want to look at your Marineland flyer again. When I was at Marineland last year, I noted that their leaflet claimed that Dragon Mountain is the "largest" steel coaster -- not longest. They make the same claim on their web site:

http://www.MarinelandCanada.com/attractions6.html

I'm not precisely sure what they mean by that, but it could be that it has to do with amount of land it "inscribes" (i.e. if you were to "color in" the area inside the circuit and measure that). It's sitting on a huge dedicated piece of land and doesn't do much in the way of crossing itself.

Coaster player, there is a big difference between what you're explaining and what they aadvertised. I seen advertisements of plenty. It doesn't say Zeus is the fastest paced thrill ride in the Midwest. It said fastest wooden roller coaster in the Midwest.

By the way, the United States Geological Survey lists Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin as the Midwestern States.

Created by congress and serving under the United States Department of Interior, the USGS is a much more reliable source than the opinion of some guys out in Wisconsin.

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Lake Compounce-So Fresh and So Clean Clean

It simply said fastest. That's all. Nothing more.

I'm not going to pick silly little nits about peak speeds acheived for all of a half-second...which for all practical purposes is the most useless measure of 'speed' there is. Ooh, 2 MPH faster for a blink of an eye. Gimme a break.

Time spent slowing down at the top of tall hills=lower average speed

Time taken to climb a 200-foot lift hill=lower average speed

Time floating atop a 100-foot loop=lower average speed

I'm not saying Zeus is faster as a matter of fact. If you take the length of the ride in feet and divide it by the time taken to traverse its course, you'd actually have a true answer to the question. But it certainly can't be dismissed as false advertising out of hand. It can actually be true.

-'Playa

(who might actually try to answer that question next summer, 'cause it's a good one)

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya on 7/31/2002. ***

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Vertigo said:

By the way, the United States Geological Survey lists Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin as the Midwestern States.

Created by congress and serving under the United States Department of Interior, the USGS is a much more reliable source than the opinion of some guys out in Wisconsin.

Sure, but who's concept of the midwest matters to Big Chief more? The USGS or the people from Wisconsin? If people in WI don't consider Ohio to be midwest, then there's nothing wrong with advertising the way they do. Big Chief is hardly a destination point for people who live in those outer midwest states.

-Nate

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